Bidding window for freeport status closes

The application window for ports in England to apply for freeport status closed on February 5, with all the UK’s major seaport operators involved in one or more bids according to the UK Major Ports Group (UKMPG).

Bids have been made by operators in regions such as the Thames, Kent, Suffolk, the Humber, Tees, Tyne and Northumberland, Cumbria, Merseyside, the Avon and Somerset and the Solent.

The British Ports Association (BPA) is aware of approximately 35 organisations or consortia that have expressed an interest in bidding, publicly or privately, including 27 in England.